New Jersey City University Athletics

BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES 

JERSEY CITY, NJ…New Jersey City University rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to tie the game with 1:28 remaining when the Scarlet Raiders were held without a field goal for a staggering span of 14:54, but couldn't pull in front and Rutgers-Newark clinched a New Jersey Athletic Conference tournament berth by surviving with a 59-55 win over the Gothic Knights in an NJAC North Division game on Charlie Brown Court at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.

NJCU concludes the 76^th season of men's basketball with a 10-15 record and 4-9 in the NJAC. Rutgers-Newark (14-11, 7-6 NJAC) reached the NJAC Tournament for the fourth time in five seasons and as the #3 seed in the NJAC North will travel to The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ on Saturday, February 21 at 1 p.m. NJCU and Newark split the season series, but the Knights lead the all-time series with the Scarlet Raiders, 57-8.

Junior guard James Johnson (Summit, NJ/Summit) led Newark with 19 points (6-12 FG) in 38 minutes while junior forward Deshawn Singleton (Passaic, NJ/Passaic) had 13 points on 7-of-9 free throw shooting; he was 3-of-13 from the field. Senior forward David Cherry (Linden, NJ/Roselle Catholic) added 12 points and junior forward Phil Barnes (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) had a game-best 10 rebounds—all defensive. Junior guard Tim Smith (Mullica Hill, NJ/Camden Catholic) had seven rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Senior guard KYLE INGRAM (Sicklerville, NJ/Winslow Township) led the Knights with 18 points on 4-of-9 shooting and 3-of-6 three-point accuracy, while connecting on all seven free throws he attempted. He added five rebounds and three assists.

Freshman small forward RASHAWN SMALLS (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson), an eight-time NJAC Rookie of the Week selection, collected his ninth double-double of the season with 11 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, but struggled from the field (4-18 FG).

Junior point guard JOSH LOPEZ (Jersey City, NJ/St. Mary's (Jersey City)) had scored a career-high 36 in NJCU's win over the Raiders on January 28, but settled for nine points on 3-of-6 three-point shooting (3-8 FG). Sophomore power forward TOM McDERMOTT (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) had eight defensive rebounds.

Both teams struggled to hit shots as Newark made 29.6 percent of its attempts (16-54), including just 19.2 percent in the second period (5-26). NJCU wasn't much higher at 32.7 percent overall (16-49). But NJCU committed 22 turnovers which the Raiders converted into a 25-13 advantage in scoring off of giveaways. Newark also had a 13-2 margin in second chance points.

NJCU, which shot .800 from the line (12-15), also converted 11 triples (11-25, .440). Newark shot 22-of-30 from the stripe (.733).

In the first half, a 12-11 NJCU lead with 11:40 left quickly dissipated and four straight points from Singleton allowed the Raiders to grab a 25-16 cushion at 7:38. Threes by Lopez and Smalls, who scored six straight points, cut it to five before Newark's lead expanded to nine at the half, 37-28, when freshman guard Greg Moore (Jersey City, NJ/Bayonne) hit a three with three seconds remaining.

The Raiders scored the first eight points of the second half to extend its run to 11-0 between the end of the first and start of the second period, and seized a 17-point margin, 45-28, with 18:08 left. Johnson hit a three before Singleton scored five points. Singleton kept it a 17-point, 48-31 difference with 14:54 left before NJCU slowly began to whittle it away as the Raiders went ice cold.

The NJCU defense did not allow the Raiders to tally a field goal for 14:54. Between a Singleton jumper with 18:08 left and a Johnson bucket with 3:14 remaining, Newark scored just five points—all from the line—and missed 18 consecutive shots.

Three pointers by sophomore guard COREY DIXON (Linden, NJ/David Brearley) and Ingram cut it to 48-39. Freshman point guard GABRIEL GARCIA (Elizabeth, NJ/St. Mary's, Elizabeth) hit a jumper at 10:00 and Ingram added another at 9:05 to make it a seven-point game before Dixon, who was 2-of-3 from the field (all three-point attempts) and finished with six points, nailed a triple with 8:35 left to make it 50-46. NJCU missed its next four shots but McDermott converted two foul shots with 5:41 left to make it a two-point game, 50-48. That was the end of a 19-0 run over a span of what proved to be 11:40.

NJCU had a chance to tie it at 4:28 but Smalls, who earlier missed a 1-and-1 free throw attempt, could not convert on an alley-oop dunk and Johnson ended the bleeding with a jumper at 3:14 to give Newark a 52-48 lead. Smalls hit a layup at 2:44, but Cherry connected on a three-pointer at 2:23 for a 55-50 advantage.

With 2:12 left, Ingram was fouled on a three-point shot and sank all three free throws, making it 55-53. He again went to the stripe with 1:28 remaining, and hit two more foul shots, tying the game at 55-55—the first tie since 9-9 in the opening 3:35 of the game.

A loose-ball foul with 59.1 seconds remaining allowed Johnson to head to the line, and he hit both free throws for a 57-55 Raiders' lead and the eventual winning margin. Ingram was whistled for a traveling violation with 29.8 seconds left and with 20.7 seconds remaining, Smith was fouled. He hit the first of two foul shots, but missed the second and Smalls grabbed the rebound. NJCU, down 58-55, set up for a chance to tie the game, but couldn't get a clean three-point try as Lopez missed from the left sideline with five seconds left, and Barnes made one of two foul shots with 4.1 on the clock to seal it.